Caponata is a Sicilian dish usually made with eggplant, olives, and capers in a sweet and sour sauce. I mixed the veggies up a bit and left out the capers 1. because I didn’t have any and 2. because I don’t like them anyway but it still turned out seriously delicious.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and toss 1 inch eggplant chunks with 2 Tbls. of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast for about 25 minutes, turning occasionally.

Heat the other 2 Tbls. of oil in a skillet and add chopped onion, zucchini, and olives. Once they begin to get tender, throw in the chopped tomato. Season with salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, the 2 Tbls. of vinegar, and the sugar. Cover and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half (it took about 6 or so minutes for me).

Add the roasted eggplant pieces to the skillet and coat with the sauce mixture.

Top toasted bread slices with the caponata for an appetizer, or mix in with pasta or meat as a sauce for an entree.

The original recipe called for green olives instead of black, celery instead of zucchini (you could use green bell pepper as a substitute too) and capers (which I left out completely) so you can pretty much tweak this recipe whichever way your vegetable cravings swing. Also, a recipe that can be both an appetizer or an entree!? I’m all about that kind of multi-tasking. I only used half of my roided-out eggplant but one normal grocery store eggplant would be perfect.

Blend watermelon, strawberries, lime juice and sugar in a blender. Pour into dixie cups and allow to partially freeze. Insert popsicle stick and pour another few drops of mixture around the hole made by the stick. Allow to freeze overnight before serving.

I had to cut little round circles of parchment paper for the bottom of the dixie cups because a trial popsicle run made with water came out with a piece of dixie-cup-paper stuck to the bottom so the parchment helped to keep everything non-stick. Also, taste your blend of watermelon and strawberry after each tablespoon addition of lime juice as well as sugar–too much lime juice will make it too sour depending on how your fruit tastes, and too much sugar will make it sicky-sweet. I made about three batches of this and got about thirty Dixie cups total and they were absolutely delicious, refreshing, and (besides the teensy bit of sugar) completely healthy. The dixie cups are a little more difficult to work with than the plastic popsicle molds you can buy, but the shape is so much more rustic and vintage looking, it’s worth it. Besides, nothing says summer like sticky fingers and fruit on a stick. I made these guys for my 108 degree Fourth of July and they were quite the hit amongst that temperature-misery.

I had the best, best, besttt time on my trip. So many good times they’ve bled into Monday and I haven’t had a chance to unpack my camera so those pics are coming just as soon as I get adjusted back to real life…whew it’s hard! Happy new week everyone!

Here’s one of two promised recipes I made for the Fourth. This one was adapted from Ina Garten’s shortbread recipe you can get here. And oh my, after you get over the shock of 3/4 pounds of butter, just suck it up and try it because this recipe seriously works. I only had to bake mine for about 11 to 12 minutes because I was going to make a jam sandwich out of them so I rolled them out pretty thin. Take them out when they are just barely tinged with light brown. Also, since I made them on a 108 degree day, I had to keep popping the dough into the freezer in order to get the star shapes to peel themselves away from the dough-ball and not turn into maimed-looking star-fish. So, if you’re baking on the surface of the sun too, there’s a little tip for you. The cookies came out so flaky, buttery (I hope after 3/4 lbs.!), and divine. I alternated blackberry and raspberry jam in between and left a few thicker ones sans-jam just in case there was a jam-hater among my party. By the end of the night, the humidity had at last even gotten to the jam-stars, crumbling at a harsh touch, but in support of their glory I have to tell you that the crumbs bothered no one: faces went down to plates and tongues just licked up the crumbly goodness.

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The Muser:

Hello friends! I'm Alexandria. After joining the work-a-day-world post-graduation, I discovered an overwhelming yet undiscussed malaise among the females of cubicleville: the general conclusion that maintaining femininity is an impossibility with everything else modern girls must do. My blog, Vintage Muse+Modern Views shows today’s girl how to link classic feminine grace to the modern, casual, fast-paced lifestyle (with a little DIY thrown in too). So, follow me! And learn that classic beauty and grace can still fit into your world. If you love vintage-inspired things, check out my Etsy shop too!